Louisville Cardinals vs Baylor Bears Prediction, 2/14/2026 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Louisville Cardinals vs Baylor Bears

Date: Saturday, February 14, 2026

Location: Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, TX

TV: ESPN

The Baylor Bears (13-11) will try to defeat the Louisville Cardinals (18-6) at Dickies Arena on Saturday.

The Louisville Cardinals faced North Carolina State and notched a win by a score of 118-77 in their last contest. In relation to personal fouls, the Cardinals ended up finishing with 16 while North Carolina State accumulated 17 personal fouls. They buried 4 of their 22 attempts from beyond the arc. North Carolina State finished the contest at 89.5% from the free throw line by converting 17 of 19 shots. Additionally, North Carolina State grabbed 28 rebounds (6 offensive, 22 defensive), but wasn't able to record a block. North Carolina State doled out 10 assists and had 6 steals for the matchup. In regard to the defense, Louisville allowed the other team to shoot 41.2% from the field on 28 of 68 shooting. They also recorded 21 assists in this game as well as forcing 10 turnovers and earning 6 steals. In relation to rebounding, they earned a total of 42 with 8 of them being offensive. From the free throw line, the Cardinals knocked down 22 of 27 tries for a rate of 81.5%. Louisville finished the contest having earned a 60.0% field goal percentage (39 out of 65) and converted 18 of 30 shots from distance.

Mikel Brown Jr. is a player who played a role in this matchup. He totaled 45 points on 14 of 23 shooting. He was on the court for 34 minutes played and also pulled down 9 boards. He finished the game at 60.9% from the field and also recorded 2 assists.

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Louisville will take the court with a record of 18-6 on the season. They are turning it over 11.5 times per game and as a unit are committing 18.7 fouls on a nightly basis. As a team, Louisville is pulling in 40.3 boards per contest and has racked up 429 dimes so far this year, which is 33rd in the nation in terms of passing the ball. The Cardinals are shooting 35.5% on three-point attempts (283 of 798) and 76.7% from the free throw line. They average 87.1 pts per game (16th in college hoops) while hitting 47.0% from the field.

Defensively, the Cardinals are forcing their opponents into 12.3 turnovers every game and they draw 18.8 fouls. They surrender 33.2% on 3-point attempts and they are 101st in D-1 in points per game from their opponents (70.9). The Cardinals defense is giving up a FG percentage of 40.4% (585 of 1,447) and they surrender 33.9 rebounds per game as a team. They are 52nd in college in giving up assists to their opponents with 282 surrendered this year.

The last time they took the court, the Baylor Bears took a defeat with a final score of 99-94 against BYU. The Bears were able to collect 21 defensive rebounds and 9 offensive boards totaling 30 in the game. They turned the ball over 13 times, while getting 2 steals for this game. BYU earned 18 fouls in this contest which got the Bears to the charity stripe for a total of 25 shots. They were able to make 20 of the free throw tries for a percentage of 80.0%. With regard to shooting from distance, Baylor made 10 out of 21 tries (47.6%). Overall, the Bears walked away from this one shooting 32 out of 62 from the field which gave them a percentage of 51.6%. The Bears allowed BYU to convert 38 of 68 attempts from the field which had them at 55.9% for the matchup. They shot 15.8% from behind the 3-point line by shooting 3 out of 19 and ended up shooting 20 of 25 at the charity stripe (80.0%). In the matter of how they rebounded, Baylor permitted BYU to get 33 overall (12 on the offensive side).

Tounde Yessoufou was important for the Bears in this contest. He scored 37 points in his 40 minutes on the hardwood and accumulated 3 assists in the game. He made 12 out of 19 in the matchup for a field goal percentage of 63.2%, and had 6 rebounds.

Baylor has a win-loss mark of 13-11 for the campaign. The Bears commit 16.3 fouls per game and they hit 72.4% from the free throw line. Their rate of assisting teammates is at 16.0 times per contest (69th in the nation) and they turn it over 11.8 times per contest. Baylor has scored 2,013 points for the campaign (83.9 per contest) and they grab 38.2 rebounds per game. When it comes to offense, the Bears are connecting on 48.3% from the floor, which ranks 40th in Division 1.

The Bears on defense are ranked 240th in the nation in PPG given up with 75.9. They are forcing their opponents into 11.1 TO's per game and allow teams to shoot 43.9% from the floor (180th in college hoops). The Baylor defense concedes 33.7% on three-point shots (176 of 523) and their opponents are converting on 74.2% of their shots from the free throw line. They have conceded 13.1 dimes and 32.9 boards per game, which ranks them 154th and 86th in those categories on the defensive end.

Who will win tonight's NCAA game against the spread?

Tony Sink's Pick: Take Baylor

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